Vietnam will continue embracing its market economy model that guarantees a fair, open and transparent playing field for domestic and foreign businesses, said Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.
Speaking at a dialogue with Vietnamese and Australian business executives in Sydney on March 17, PM Dung reiterated Vietnam’s commitment to further integration into the world economy by fulfilling its commitments to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and other bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements (FTAs).
Vietnam has been implementing three strategic breakthroughs to attract more investment, boost economic development, fine-tune institutions for a market economy, build infrastructure and develop human resources.
PM Dung was quoted by the Government’s portal chinhphu.vn as saying the nation will continue ensuring political and social stability and protecting investors’ legitimate interests while enhancing the people’s rights to freedom and democracy in economics and politics, considering this to be a target and impetus for rapid and sustainable economic growth.
Vietnam has grown from an underdeveloped country into a dynamic middle-income economy with growth of nearly 6% last year, partly driven by nearly 18,000 projects worth US$300 billion registered by companies from over 100 countries and territories worldwide. More than 100 multinationals have made a presence in Vietnam.
The PM said the Government backs Australian firms to take part in Vietnam’s economic restructuring process, particularly in energy, telecommunications infrastructure, education-training, sustainable agriculture and finance in which Australia is strong.
Regarding bad debt trading, Vietnam highly encourages investors to join the debt trading market, especially purchasing debt at real estate or business projects.
The goal is to bring the rate of bad debt at commercial banks to below 3% from the current 5%, Dung added.
The dialogue was held for the Vietnamese and Australian business communities as part of the Vietnamese Government leader’s visit to Australia. It attracted hundreds of big enterprises in banking, finance, energy, oil and gas and mineral extraction from both countries.
He also shared his views of the Vietnam-Australia relations, national development as well as emerging regional security environment during his meeting with Australian scholars at the Lowy Institute.
The country has established diplomatic relations with 185 countries and played an active and responsible role in 70 international organizations.
Dung said the Asia-Pacific region is facing uncertainties due to complicated developments, including in the East Sea.
Tensions can only be settled if countries, particularly those directly involved, strictly respect international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, exercise self-restraint, take no unilateral actions that further complicate the situation, avoid the threat and use of force, fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea and work towards the Code of Conduct, he added.
Source: The Saigon Times Daily
Key words: PM, field, foreign businesses, Vietnam
